Branch News

Unite’s Community Youth Workers and Not for Profit sector is having a lobby of Parliament this Tuesday 25 October on the need to protect youth services. Full details of the lobby at Methodist Central Hall are available on this flyer.

At 3pm there will be a photo op during a ‘silent disco’ in Old Palace Yard and it would be great to have a good turn out from the Parliamentary branch to show our support for community services for young people. If you can make it please email lauren.edwards@unitepsbranch.org

You can also sign the e-petition to the Department of Education opposing cuts to youth services and ask your own MP and the one you work for to sign EDM 1013 on Youth Work and the Youth Service.

Thanks & hope to see you there!

We are delighted that the union branch’s proposal to introduce a catering discount/loyalty scheme for MPs’ staff has got the go-ahead, after the House of Commons Commission backed the proposal in their response to the House Administration Committee’s report into catering service which was published this week.

Back in May in its report on catering and retail services in the House of Commons, the House Administration Committee recommended the introduction of “a staff loyalty or discount scheme to benefit the lower paid staff of Members and the House, with the specific intention of encouraging back customers who appear to have been lost as a result of the price increases”.

This recommendation followed both written and oral evidence submitted by the union branch, which argued that MPs’ staff had been disproportionately affected by the recent catering price increases as average salaries are low. The branch gave evidence that MPs’ staff were increasingly purchasing their lunch off the Estate and recommended the introduction of a staff loyalty or discount scheme to bring them back by making food on the Estate more affordable. Continue reading →

CAMRA have kindly agreed to once again hold a social with the union branch from 6pm Thursday 20 October in Parliament. There will be some excellent real ale and a raffle with some great prizes too. More details will be posted later – I believe work is also going into getting some good cheese. If you aren’t already a member of CAMRA or the union branch, then this is a great opportunity to sign up.

RSVP either via our members facebook page or by emailing sarah.mcguire@unitepsbranch.org

The event is branch members only, but contact Sarah if you have colleagues or friends who are thinking about joining and would like to come along.

For those of you who weren’t able to make the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) oral evidence session on interns and the National Minimum Wage, there’s still time to submit your views and experiences in writing.

With the Government currently considering new guidance on unpaid work and the National Minimum Wage, and planning to instruct HMRC to target unpaid work in the autumn, now is a good time to remind the LPC of exactly why action is needed so that interns can get their minimum wage rights.

We’re keen to hear about the experiences of current or former Parliamentary interns. All case studies will be anonymous when published. If you’d like to share your experience, please email shelley.phelps@unitepsbranch.org

This Sunday is the 75th anniversary of Cable St and the branch will be having an outing to take part in the march and rally.

Assemble for the march at 11.30am Aldgate East (junction of Braham Street and Leman Street) or join the rally at 1.00pm St Georges in the East Park (Cable Street).

There will be some great trade union speakers at the rally, including:

Max Levitas Battle of Cable Street Veteran
Frances O’Grady Deputy General Secretary TUC
Matthew Collins Searchlight
Robert Griffiths General Secretary Communist Party
Bob Crow General Secretary RMT
Kosru Uddin Labour Councillor
Julie Begum Swadhinata Trust
David Rosenberg Jewish Socialists’ Group
Gail Cartmail Assistant General Secretary UNITE
Diana Holland Assistant General Secretary UNITE
Akik Rahman Altab Ali Memorial Foundation

Will no doubt head to a nearby pub afterwards for a few drinks. Hope to see you there. If you need to get a mobile contact number please email lauren.edwards@unitepsbranch.org or message me via the facebook event page.

Below is an article from Branch Chair Max Freedman, originally posted on the Unions21 website:

Parliament is an intimidating workplace for your first job. There are over 2000 people who work for MPs, and for many of them, it is their first job after leaving university. Turnover is high and staff typically work in an office of 2-3 people or fewer without obvious opportunities to meet and socialise with staff of other MPs.

This is where the UNITE Parliamentary Staff branch has an important role to play. Continue reading →

The branch will be hosting the Parliamentary launch of a new satirical book ‘The Coalition Chronicles’ by The Thick of It’s legendary ‘swearing consultant’ Ian Martin from 6:30pm Tue 13 Sep in the Red Lion pub.

The book will be available to buy below RRP at just a tenner and Ian will be there to sign copies. If you’re lucky you might be able to get a Malcolm Tucker-style dedication as Ian is responsible for some classic lines.

Together with the publishers we are putting money behind the bar, so branch members only, but if you’re not yet a member & thinking of joining or would like to bring a friend as a special case feel free to email lauren.edwards@unitepsbranch.org

Hope to see you there!

The Two Chairman

*Unfortunately we’ve had to cancel the quiz as the two by-elections have affected numbers. However, we’ll reschedule for after the Party conferences*

Branch members and friends are invited to a pub quiz to celebrate the end of the 2 week sitting in September.

It will be held from 6:30pm on the 15th Sep upstairs at the Two Chairman pub, near Trafalgar Square. The full address is 1 Warwick House St, London, SW1Y 5AT.

The pub has good beer and food and is close to Parliament. There will be the usual raffle and prizes for the winning team and wittiest quiz team name. Teams of around four-six would be best.

Join the faceboook group event page here. Hope to see you there!

Branch Secretary Louise Haigh

Our Secretary Louise Haigh is currently doing a Masters in Law at Birbeck University on the vulnerability of agency workers in UK employment law and their experiences with trade unions. If you’ve ever been an agency worker she’d be grateful if you’d take a couple of minutes to complete this short survey.

An article she has written for the Unite Scotland website is reposted below to explain why she is conducting the research:

With the EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers due to come into force this October, the issue of their protection in employment law is once again up for debate. But what trade unions and political parties have failed to demonstrate is that this is not just an issue for agency workers but for workers everywhere. The loopholes that currently allow the exploitation of agency workers represent a crisis for social justice and the change that is coming will not improve the current situation; in fact, it may do quite the opposite. Continue reading →

The Adam Afriyie-led Committee on Members’ Expenses is to review the operation of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, which established IPSA. The branch will be submitting a response on behalf of our members who have been affected by the Act. Please forward your comments and evidence to lauren.edwards@unitepsbranch.org by Monday 29 August.

In particular the committee will consider how to ensure:

• value for money for taxpayers
• accountability
• public confidence in Parliament
• the ability of Members to fulfil their duties effectively
• fairness for less well-off Members and those with families
• that Members are not deterred from submitting legitimate claims

Full details about the inquiry here